William Lansing, chairman of Fingerhut Cos. Inc. has resigned. The cataloger and retailer was purchased a year ago by Federated Department Stores Inc., Cincinnati.
The company said in a statement that as part of its new business structure, a successor to Lansing will not be named. Lansing joined Fingerhut as president in 1998 and had been made chairman in May.
Following Federated’s $1.7 billion takeover of Fingerhut in March 1999, Fingerhut was folded into a new catalog and Internet division, Federated Direct.
Jeffrey Sherman, 51, has been named chairman and chief executive of the New York-based Federated Direct. His appointment is effective immediately. Sherman most recently was president of Federated’s Bloomingdale’s department-store chain. A new president will be named in the near future, the company said.
In his new position, Sherman will oversee Fingerhut, Bloomingdale’s By Mail, bloomingdales.com, Macy’s By Mail and macys.com. He will report to Tysoe.
Richard Tysoe, vice chairman of the parent company, said Sherman’s appointment marks the first time all of Federated’s catalog and e-commerce operations have been combined into one division.
The company said that Lansing had endorsed the company’s venture-capital portfolio, which held minority equity stakes in start-up firms. However, Federated said it wants to focus more on integrating its online and traditional retail businesses.
“Our intent from the outset was eventually to bring all of our direct-to-consumer businesses under one division with a chairman who is responsible for all aspects of these catalog and e- commerce operations,” Federated vice chairman Ronald Tysoe said in a statement.
